Billerud signs agreement to aquire Henry Cooke Ltd

Billerud signs agreement to acquire Henry Cooke Ltd Billerud has signed an agreement to acquire the British paper making company Henry Cooke Ltd. The agreement is subject to approval by the British competition authority OFT. The price for the capital employed is around MSEK 200. Henry Cooke Ltd is a British wholly-owned subsidiary of Johannesburg listed Barloworld. It produces packaging paper and is specialised in paper for medical and flexible packaging; two of Billerud's prioritised segments. The manufacturing plant of the company is situated approx 100 kilometers north of Manchester and includes two MG-machines with an annual capacity of approx 45 000 tons. The company has approx 180 employees and an annual turnover of approx MSEK 400. The sales are global but with a main focus on Europe. Stockholm 19 December 2003 Billerud AB (publ) Bert Östlund President & CEO For further information, please contact: Nils Lindholm; CFO, +46 8 553 335 07 or +46 70 217 5225 For further information about Billerud, please visit www.billerud.com. ------------------------------------------------------------ This information was brought to you by Waymaker http://www.waymaker.net The following files are available for download: http://www.waymaker.net/bitonline/2003/12/19/20031219BIT00660/wkr0001.doc http://www.waymaker.net/bitonline/2003/12/19/20031219BIT00660/wkr0002.pdf